AIR (Ingredient)
AIR (エア, Ea) the Food King (食王 (しょくおう) Shoku-Ō) is the Food King of Area 8 and is part of Acacia's Full Course. It is said to be located in Slow Rain Hills of the Gourmet World. AIR is, in actuality, a gigantic AIR Fruit on an equally massive Air Tree. It is said that long ago AIR provided enough air to Area 8 and the rest of the world to easily support an abundance of life. However, Blue Nitro's have been prematurely harvesting AIR for thousands of years using their own technology. Because of this, AIR has been unable to provide the world with all of the air it used to. Appearance An Air Fruit of gigantic proportions, it looks like a swirling ball of clouds. AIR is estimated to be a third the size of the giant Air Tree it grows on. The stem that AIR grows on is surprisingly thin for the size of the fruit that it supports and it has been stated that the fruit is perfectly round. The fruit has a weight of more than 5 quadrillion tons and containing the same amount of air. AIR has a solid and dense body that has been compared to lead, though it is still flexible. Abilities Upon maturation, AIR drops from the Giant Air Tree it grows on and smashes into the ground. This causes air to burst out of the fruit and blast away all of the clouds in Area 8. A single, full grown AIR contains enough air to completely cover the eintire planet in a new atmosphere. There is enough force behind the air that it is capable of clearing out the thick cloud and mist cover of the continent. This also generates multiple "Rainbow Bridges" that are solid enough for a new born Heraku and others to use as bridges to other continents of the Gourmet World. While the fruit is growing, it makes the air around it so incredibly dense that the Rain falling around it comes down in slow motion and the air also impedes the movement of those who are trying to approach AIR. Another ability given to this ingredient is when consumed, it allow the person to gain a single limb from their appetite devil, mainly the left arm. As Food Holding the position of the Salad Dish in the Full Course Menu of the Bishokushin, Acacia, AIR is called a Food King. When prepared properly AIR is treated like cabbage when it is being prepared, other than it's massive size. The skin of AIR comes off in numerous layers, like an onion, and can be removed in pieces. The size of AIR allows for its skin to be easily capable of providing many servings and capable of serving many people at once. A single serving, enough to fill a small plate, has the weight of lead but seems to be remarkably flexible. While a salad dish, AIR is more like high class meat in texture rather than having a texture like fruits or vegetables. A small plate's worth of AIR contains enough concentrated oxygen in it to increase one's vision so much so that they can easily see into space for a brief moment. Preparation As the Food King of Area 8 and as an item on the Full Course Menu of Acacia, AIR has a highly difficult preparation method with only two Chefs having been known to be able to prepare it. The only one who currently knows how to prepare AIR is the Daruma Hermit, though it is unknown how he came to know the contacts that helped him to acquire this knowledge. A special blade was created, over the course of six years, by Melk the First to prepare AIR. The Blue Nitro have gotten a hold of AIR before the residents of the Bewitching Food World have, so the Daruma Hermit has been unable to exercise his knowledge for preparing AIR. After finally being able to reach the Ingredient itself, it was realized immediately that, in order to reach AIR's truest potential taste, that it would need to be fully ripened. This would allow the flavor of AIR to reach up to 120% when properly prepared. In order to achieve the most desirable taste possible, one would have to prepare it the instant it hit the ground. The knife that Melk the First specially made was not to directly prepare AIR as much as it was to prepare the air around it in order to hasten the time it would take for AIR to ripen. This means that the blade is so sharp that it is capable of being used to cut the very air, removing the dense air from the area and quickening AIR's ripening. There are two methods to prepare the fruit itself depending on the desired level of taste. Incomplete Method This method can be done prior to AIR becoming fully ripe, making it faster and easier to do. However, this causes AIR to loose a great deal of its flavor. It has the Chef releave the air within the fruit to allow it to cool off (and not explode), preserving 70% of the good taste that remains. Unfortunately, since this damages several areas of AIR to allow air to escape, the escaping air also takes with it about 30% of AIR's desired flavor. True Method This method requires AIR to be in the process of becoming fully ripened, beginning before and ending at the moment the fruit becomes fully ripened. This makes it even more difficult, as the timing is extraordinarily important. However, if done correctly, the flavor of AIR is above 100%, reaching up to 120%, of the desired taste. It is done by allowing air to escape the fruit from a single hole, and nowhere else, thus letting AIR retain its shape and form. Doing this has the air inside unleashed in a lone streaming burst the moment the fruit hits the ground, this lets AIR to cool down from the pressure it was under and seal in all of the flavor. This also allows AIR to maintain its proper form. Through this, the flavor that is normally lost is kept due to the air only having a single release location and keeps the flavor from escaping at the same time, the air acting as a plug to the flavor. Requirements for Capture First and foremost, the most obvious requirement one needs to meet in order to even try and capture AIR is to be able to enter the Gourmet World. It is common knowledge, amongst the citizens of the Bewitching Food World, that a sacrifice is traditionally needed to be offered to Heraku in order to be allowed to try and capture AIR. There are rumors of ways to get around having a sacrifice, however, these rumors are unclear or clearly bad ideas (like fighting Heraku). In order to begin trying to capture AIR, after entering the Gourmet World and dealing with the sacrifice issue, there needs to be a party of at least five skilled and experienced people working together. Skill and Experience is determined by a history of working with several Special Preparation Ingredients. A final requirement that is that at least one of the members of the Capture Party needs to have a specially prepared knife for preparing AIR. Trivia *This article was rewritten by Leengard Ustan *Admin permission is needed to capture AIR. Category:Fruit Category:Ingredient Category:Acacia's Full Course Category:Special Preparation Ingredient Category:Salad Category:Canon to Fanon Category:Area 8 Category:Gourmet World Category:Super-Special Preparation Ingredient Category:Food Kings